Top 2 "Cause & Effect" & Gross Motor Activities to do with your 3 to 9-month-old

With both of my kids and children I have cared for, I have always used the balloon kick and the emergency blanket cause and effect activities.

The balloon Kick:

Have the child lay on their back and loosely tie a balloon around their ankle. You can start it off, by tapping the balloon to make it move. You will see their eyes open wide in amazement and wonder. This will excite them, which will cause their arms and legs to move, causing the balloon to move, again! It is such a fun activity to watch your little one try to process. This always kept my kiddos entertained and engaged for at least 15 minutes! I love the balloons from the dollar tree, for some reason, they last a week or longer!

Emergency Blanket:

This one can be very stimulating! You can set this up in a few different ways; either lay or sit your child on the emergency blanket, drape it over something and lay them next to it for them to kick, or sit them next to it and let them touch it. Whenever they make a slight move, the blanket crinkles and makes lots of noise. This noise is very exciting and they will try to figure out how the noise is being made. This is the cause and effect portion. They move (cause), it makes noise (effect).

Both exercises can be over-stimulating, so be cautious with your little one and pay close attention to their cues. If they begin to fuss or seem like they need a break, put the activity away for a while.

Both exercises work on building cognition skills of cause and effect and gross motor skills of body movements.